Improvement in traveling-trunks



'or wedging reversely, as shown at JOHN o. L'ooKn, or recenseren, NEW venir..

Letters Patent No. 112,937, dated March 21, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN TRAVELING-TRUNKS.

The Schedule referred' to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J ons C. Looms, of the city of Rochester', in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Traveling-Trunks, of which the following isa specification.

natu/re of thc'Inoention.

General Description.

In the drawing- Figure lis a perspective View of the trunk, closed.

Figure 2, a similar view of the saine, open.

Figures 3 and 4, views of the strap arrangement.

Figure 5, a. view nf the stayarrangement.

A is the trunlr'body, vB the cover,'and O the valance, all of ordinary construction.

Instead of the ordinary leather straps and buckles for holding the cover'down, I employ the following arrangement:

D D are two straps, made of hoop-iron, steel, or brass, spring or other metal, which yield readily.

These straps are pivoted at a c to the valance, and their upper ends rest loosely in the caps or escntcheons E E, so as to have a slight degree'of lateral play, the object of which is to enable vthe straps to catch and lock with the catches if the cover becomes racked or pushed a little out of place, as is .sometimes the ease.

' The lower ends of the straps arcbformed dovetailed b, ii 3.

G G are the catches, attached to theg body of the trunk in suoli a position as to engage with the straps when they come d'own.

These catches are peculiar in their construction. Their upper part is formed with two lugs, d, III, which are of the saine dovetailed or wedging form as the ends oi' the straps, andwhich stand at a distance apart Vequal to the width of the strap, so as to receive and lembrace the latter when fully down, as shown in E". 3. o.lhese lugs start imperccptibly at the tcp and gradually increase in projection as they go downward till they pass the extent of the passage ot' the strap, when they continue around the whole circle of the bottom,- hut in au oblong form, leaving thereby an open space, j, under the end of the strap, for the insertion oi the iinger to raise thc strap to disengage the parts..

The bottom and sides r/ h oi' the catch serve as award or shield to prevent injury to the end of' the snap, the eii'ect heilig to canse any opposing object to glide 'over and above the shielded part.

The catch has a bearing, It, across the top, to receive the strap when itdrops inplace.

The operation is as follows;

When the cover shuts down the wide lower end of the strap rides over the wedging lugs d d of the catches till the cover is'fully closed, when the inclines of the straps and the lugs coincide, and the straps then drop into place and remain locked. The action is thus automatic and requires no attention from the operator, and the cover is held firmly down without any loose action, such as is experienced where leather straps are used. The whole tensile strength of the straps is alsose` cured, as there is no break or slot in them, and the trunk will give way before 'they can draw out. The

advantage is great over a hasp having an eye that shuts into a slot of the truuk, as i'n thatcase the whole strain comes upon the eye, which soon tears ont. It is also much better than if a slot were cnt in the strap itself, shutting over a' pin, as'in that case the strap would be weakened. "-I have contemplated these and other modifications, but the method described is far preferable to any-that I know of.

This arrangement of th dovetailed straps and catches I claim as a special eature of my invention.

Instead of1 the ordinary flexible stays to hold the cover up, I employ the following arrangement:

` H H are thin metallic bands, of a width less than the thickness of the 'boards from which the trunk is made. The lower ends of these bands are jointed or hinged, at p p, to the top of the end pieces of the trunk-body.

The `uppcrrportions'of the bands have a longitudinal s lot, s, with o. bend, s', at the top.

A screw or pin,.o, passes through this slot into the end piece of the cover. The bands thus lie flatwise between the ends of the body and'cover.

The operation'is as follows 4:

When the cover is raisedthe screw o slides along v in the slot s till the cover is vertical, when it drops into oiiset s', and the band then becomes a stiener or stay to hold the cover np.

.When the cover is let down' again the band is drawn sidewise to relieve thescrew from the odset, and then folds down between the edges of the trunk, Where it is perfectly covered and shielded from injury.

This is a great advantage over the ordinary webbing used, or thejointed elbow arrangement that has been employed in some caseswhich folds up as the cover closes. i

It will be noticed that both the spring-straps and the stays are self-adjusting; `that is, when the straps strike down they lock or engage automatically with the catches, and the cover cannot rise again till they are disengaged by the fingers, and when the cover rises the screw catches in the offset of the slot and the covercannot fall till the stays are purposely disengaged again.

Claims;

I do not claim a rbeep for holding the cover to the body; neither do I claim, broadly, metallic arms to serve as stays; but 'A o.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patont,` is

'1. The spring-straps D D, -n combination with the catches G G, all constructed substantallyas described, for the purpose speoied.

2. The pivoted or hinged stays H H, provided with the slots s s', when arranged to lic dat between the ends of the body and cover when the trunk is closed, as herein shown and described, for the purpose speci- J. O. LOGKE.

Witnesses:

B. Oseoon, 0. P. BARNES. 

